Bosnian independence referendum

The largest Bosniak party, the Party of Democratic Action, SDA, will start legal proceedings before the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, challenging the name of the Bosnia's mainly Serbian entity, Republika Srpska, the SDA announced on Wednesday.

Bosnia's Central Election Commission, the CIK, has been accused of perpetuating discrimination in the country after it ruled that Svetozar Pudaric - an independent candidate for the election in October - could not stand as he is Bosnian Serb living in the wrong entity - the mainly Bosniak and Croatian Federation entity.

After a marathon session, the Bosnian Serb parliament suspended a decision to hold a controversial referendum challenging the powers of the country's state-level judiciary.

Bosnia-Herzegovina says it will appeal a 2007 United Nations court ruling that cleared the government in Belgrade of genocide during the 1992-95 Bosnian war.

Bakir Izetbegovic, the Muslim Bosniak member of the county's tripartite presidency, said on February 17 that the legal bid would be submitted before the 10-year deadline for an appeal expires on February 26.

The results of the Serb Republic (RS) Day referendum cannot be annulled, Chairman of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency Mladen Ivanic said on Friday.

Only the consequences of the referendum can be annulled, Ivanic, the Serb member of the tripartite rotating presidency, told the Avaz.ba website.

The new chairman of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency, Mladen Ivanic, said Friday it would be good to organize a trilateral meeting.

It would bring together the presidents and prime minister of Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, with the goal of "easing" political relations, Tanjug has reported.

A commission set up to organize the RS Day referendum has published an ad in local newspapers calling on all RS citizens to vote.

The conviction of Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic must not affect the fate of the Serb Republic (RS), Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic said on Thursday.

He urged all political representatives of the Serb people in Bosnia-Herzegovina to fight for the Serb entity in Bosnia and their people.

The Serbian government and the Bosnian Council of Ministers held a joint session in Sarajevo today and agreed to strengthen cooperation.

The two countries will also undertake joint activities in the economic sphere, according to reports.

Bosnian justice ministers agreed to create a reform package for the judicial sector which could possibly head off a potentially destabilising Bosnian Serb referendum on the state court.